


Baby You Are a Haunted Doll

by leptospira_interrogans



Category: Fall Out Boy, My Chemical Romance
Genre: 3 out of 10 in the angst scale, Angst and Humor, Halloween Challenge, If u squeeze a bit, M/M, Songfic, death mention, haunted doll - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-29
Updated: 2020-10-29
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:08:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,020
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27271681
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/leptospira_interrogans/pseuds/leptospira_interrogans
Summary: Gerard just wanted to cheer a sad Ray up with a song and Frank and Mikey may or not have been a little too supportive, which inevitably led the four of them on spending the first hours of Halloween crying at a doll that dabbed.
Relationships: Frank Iero/Mikey Way, Patrick Stump/Joe Trohman, Ray Toro/Gerard Way
Comments: 4
Kudos: 14
Collections: My Trick or Treat Romance





	Baby You Are a Haunted Doll

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Thatfragilecapricorn_00](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thatfragilecapricorn_00/gifts).



> I’m not too much into writing and actually publishing fanfictions but uh I saw the october challenge (by urs truly  
> throwupsparkles) and I knew for a fact that Anna (twitter user @frxgilecapricrn ) wanted to do this but didn’t had the time so I just tried my best to participate and write something she would enjoy reading. Hope I managed just fine and uh that other people can enjoy this as well.
> 
> ALSO CW: There is swearing, mention of death and ghost. It's pretty lighthearted but if any of those subjects can trigger you....

It started the day before Halloween’s eve, the band was sitting around and coming up with song ideas for their first album. Well, at least trying to anyway. In one minute they were talking about chord progressions and the next thing Gerard knew, they were in a half hour debate about which Halloween theme was better to use in music.

“I am telling you, zombies are the shit, they may not be interested at first look but they have so much story potential” Frank was argumenting, his head laid against Mikey's chest.

“What possible could a zombie do? Cry because they don't fit in? Vampires do it just fine“ Gerard counter argumented.

“Vampires can keep their romantic relationships, though, zombies don't have emotions. Maybe that can be good song material“ Mikey chipped in, a blank look on his face as he caressed Frank's hair tenderly.

“This is very rude of you to unvalidate zombies' emotions, let them be” Frank retorded and Mikey stopped carrying the pierced man’s hair to slap his head lightly.

“Vampires are always going to be the best supernatural creature to write about. They can be a metaphor for everything: sex, depression, not fitting in, drugs, religion guilty and all that jazz” Gerard tried to point out.

“Oh yeah, vampires: the true essence of a Gerard Way” Frank mocked and Mikey slapped him again, this time hard.

“Shut up, vampires are awesome and so is Gerard” Mikey gave Gerard a look that for any outsiders was just a blank look, but Gerard knew it as ‘You are special the way you are and I will always support you but I'm not motivated enough right now to actually open my mouth and say it’ look.

“What about you, Ray?“ Mikey asked the boy that had been almost as quiet as him the whole day, which was strange.

“I think haunting is a great topic to write on” The curly man answered, blankly.

“Like ghosts?” Gerard asked then, just so he could keep on hearing Ray's voice because, no matter the tone, it was his favourite sound ever.

“More like the idea of getting haunted by a thought and knowing you will never get peace because of it” Ray elaborated, still not looking at Gerard in the eyes “Like the poignant knowledge that you will never be enough to someone” He then glanced quickly to Gerard but looked away soon enough, as if afraid of the reaction he was going to find there.

“The faces and smiles that will haunt you forever because it isn't yours to appreciate“ Frank agreed and Ray nodded his head and Gerard couldn't help but realize that his eyes were a bit more sad.

“Maybe we can make a song in which the haunting becomes something good in the end” Gerard suggested, desperate to see Ray smiling again. However, the taller man just chuckled sadly.

“If you ever know how to do that, please let me know” Ray then smiled, but not his full and genuine smile, just a sad one that looked plain wrong on the lead guitarist. In that specific moment, Gerard realized he would do everything to take that sadness out of the beautiful man's face. And so, he got an idea for a surprise, but kept it quiet for now as they all moved along.

After a while, in which surprisingly they managed to actually do some work, they called it a day. Ray was the first one to left, Mikey waiting for Gerard, who was writing down some bullets topics on a netbook, while the glassed man was stuck an stupid argument with Frank, who never wanted to leave Mikey’s (Gerard tried to not pay attention to the argument because life has taught him that much but if he had to guess, he would say that it was about sometihing trivial like which lube label was better).

“Guys” Gerard started the second Ray left “I think I have an idea of a song”

“Should we call Ray again, then?” Frank asked and Mikey rolled his eyes.

“Are you stupid? This is clearly not a My Chemical song, it is a song for Ray” Mikey explained as if it was the most obvious thing ever.

“Might I remind you once again that not everybody is specializate in Ways’ telepathy?” Frank asked and turned to Gerard “Go on, what are you thinking about, lover boy?”

Mikey chuckled “For one to be lover boy one needs to get out of their stupid low selfsteem and accept the fact that their crush is also crushing them” 

“Shut up, you are as clueless about it as i am” Gerard miserably tried to retort, but of course Frank picked it up and started to chuckle.

“Well, at least he is dating his crush“ Frank chipped in just to annoy Gerard and then gave his hand to Mikey to high five.

“Wait” Mikey asked as he subconsciously answered the high five “Are we dating?”

“We are living together, Mikey. And we fuck a lot. i think that this is what dating implies, right?”

“Oh” Mikey looked thoughtful for a bit “I guess we are dating then”

“Fucking yeah“ Frank grinned “Dating high five” They then high fived again and Gerard sighed.

“You guys are the worst couple ever“ Gerard announced stressed as he messed in his hair nervously.

“Hey, we are just fucking with you“ Frank said softly after he saw how Gerard was stressed over it “Of course we are going to help you in your stupid crush. This song will be so badass and that it will destroy and slays his feeling and then he wouldn't have another choice but date the hell out of you“

“Like a siren song“ Mikey agreed and for a second Gerard regretted asking them for help but, all in all, they were his best friends and he could rely on them for anything.

“Okay” Gerard gave in “Lets do it”

A few hours later, Gerard was happy with the song they created and was two seconds away from just running to Ray's house to show him but Frank stopped him. “Let me work the room, I will make a scenario so good that within the first chords Ray will totally get on his knees and b-“

“Gross“ The two Way siblings said at the same time and then grinned at each other. Eventually, though, Gerard nodeed, agreeing in letting Frank, and consequently Mikey too, choose a good moment for him to play his song. Maybe that was his first mistake.

This mistake came in to bite him in the ass on the night of Halloween’s eve, as he was woken up with water from an ice bucket falling into his head.

“What the hell?“ He asked suddenly very awaken, only to find a Frank grinning next to his bed “The fuck was that, Frank?”

Frank then put his most dramatic face on and said, soberly and mysterious “It is time”

“... For you to leave?” Frank laughed at that, as if Gerard’s annoyance was the funniest thing ever, and just threw a towel in Gerard’s direction.

“Go get dress nicely, the plan to make Ray fall in love with your song is on”

“At?” Gerard checked his clock “Fucking eleven pm?”

“Do you trust me?“

“I am seriously rethinking it” Gerard answered blankly.

“Come on“ Frank chuckled, as if Gerard’s grumpiness was the funniest thing in the world “Mikey is already getting Ray up too, he is either going to fall in love with you tonight or is going to hate you, there is nowhere to hide, so chop chop”

“You know, I think I hate you”

“You are not sure of that yet? Well, this is embarrassing“ Frank joked “Now go dress, it doesn't need to be suit and tie but it needs to be classy“

“Frank it is almost midnight!“ He protested, but Frank just grinned devilish mysteriously.

“Exactly”

A few more complaints, Frank managed to drag him out of his house, Gerard slightly better dressed in a not stained jeans or t-shirt as Frank was holding a guitar case. He didn't let Gerard know where was the place they were going, but at least Frank let him choose the music, so Gerard managed to hold back his homicidal urges.

Gerard was almost dozing off in the car when Frank stopped in front of a small antique store.

“The fuck we are doing here, Frank?” Gerard asked as he saw a confused Ray on the door of the shop, with his pajamas on and a Mikey that looked the most excited Gerard ever saw in years.

“Okay, well, do you know that Kiss the Girl scene in the little mermaid movie?” Frank started.

“Yeah” Gerard agreed skeptically, already having a bad impression of what was going on.

“So, Mikey and I was thinking, what if we acted like those little animals”

“-the little animals?” Gerard asked, a slight amusement growing even though he was still grumpy.

“I am not a biologist, shut up” Frank replied blankly “Anyway, what if we acted like those little animals and kind of made the whole room in the same vibe as the song, so the prince, Ray of course, will feel the song’s vibe more intensively and will totally want to kiss you, our dear mermaid”

“Okay, that plan sounds nice” Gerard gave in, messing up with Frank always brightening his mood, even on almost the first hour of the Halloween day “But if that is your plan, why are we in an antique store?”

“Oh, Mikey loved that part. Do you know how the song is about a haunted house?” In the minute Frank said so, Gerard connected the dots and almost jumped out of surprise.

“Fuck we are in an haunted house?” Gerard screamed hysterical, kind of excited but also just wanting to punch Frank.

“Well, not really” Gerard made a sad sound then “Ha, I knew you loved it. Yeah, the house isn't haunted but” Frank then grinned “Its doll is”

Gerard knew logically that he shouldn't give in and enter in a possible creep antique store with a haunted doll, because, as his childhood with a mother that collected old dolls taught him, even when they aren’t haunted, dolls, mainly old ones, could be scary and he shouldn't be looking forward to it. But the idea of seeing a real life haunted object was kind of cool.

“Wait” Gerard exclaimed, remembering the main goal of the night “how is Ray and the song fit in this?”

“To be honest, I didn't think that hard about it because I'm way too excited with the idea of seeing a haunted doll. But I'm sure you will find a way, Gerard Way” Gerard again wanted to reaffirm that this was idiot and stupid in all levels, but he didn’t managed to say so and walk away because well, he also was a bit stupid and idiot himself.

“Wait” Another valid question came to his mind “How did you manage to convince Ray to join?”

“It was easy actually” Frank chuckled fondly “Mikey just mentioned that he was bringing a ouija board too and Ray decided to come to stop him from using that and getting us into a bigger trouble. Also in a few hours it will be my birthday”

“That is true, congratulations man.” Gerard said, high fiving Frank with a smile and then dropping it to look at the shop soberly “And how are we gonna go break into the shop? We only have a guitar here” At that Frank laughed out loud.

“Easy there tiger, my friend works here and when I told him the story of a haunted doll, he gave me the key, told me about the doll and practically begged me to destroy it” 

“Why would your friend think that you would be able to destroy a haunted doll?”

“Gee, I was born on Halloween. I am the spookiest human alive” Gerard opened his mouth to retort but then closed it, giving up.

“Okay” Gerard sighed deeply after a few minutes of silence “Let’s go meet a haunted doll”

“Hey Ray” was the first thing Gerard said when he exited the car to meet Mikey and Ray in the store’s front door. At that, Mikey just smiled amused and rolled his eyes but, thankfully enough, he stayed silent.

“This is unfair, they gave you time to dress up?” Ray said out loud looking at GERARD and then turned to Mikey “Why didn’t you give me time to dress up?”

“You have some working brain cells, if I gave you time, it would start to work and you would back down” Ray just sighed at that.

“Frank, just know that if this ends up badly, you will never get a birthday gift ever again” The lead guitarist stated and at that Frank stopped for a second as if he was reconsidering the whole thing but then, grinning at Mikey, he just unlocked the front door.

And well, Gerard was expecting something creepy from an antique store, of course, but still his steps faltered a bit at what he saw: The room was filled with old dolls, bones figurines, old furniture and Halloween movie posters.

“This is totally the stereotype of every haunted house ever“ Ray said, unconsciously putting a hand on Gerards shoulder and caressing it. Seeing that, Mikey elbowed Frank who grinned, the plan of the couple barely had started but it was already showing some progress.

“Here normally isn't that creep, they are just overdoing it for Halloween“ Frank explained “I hate capitalism but I’m glad they did it. This looks so fucking cool.”

“Okay, so what is the plan?“ Ray asked for Frank, a bit confused about what was going on. “Why are we here, even?”

“Jeez, if you want to go on the existential question level you might as well ask what is the meaning of life then” Frank joked nervously, trying to come up with time to think of a plan.

“The plan” Mikey interrupted because he knew that Frank was horrible at coming up with stuff “Is uh, to celebrate the birth of Frank Iero! He was born like two am or something, so we are going to hang out on the place he finds cool until the hour of his birth”

“I’m not sure that this is how birthday works”

“Celebrating birthday is lame but celebrating the birth hour? A masterpiece” Frank added, agreeing with Mikey’s idea and, even though Gerard knew this was a lie meant to convince Ray only, the baggy hair saw himself agreeing to it too.

“This is kind of stupid but it oddly makes a lot of sense” Ray agreed at least and the three of them mentally sighed in relieve. “But why would you choose to celebrate in an antique store?”

“Because this is also the first hour of halloween, it is the spooky hours” Frank grinned. 

Before he continued, the sound of ancient clocks ringing came full on, making the four of them jump out of surprise. After a few seconds in silence, though, Frank continued on grinning.

“This means it is already midnight, we are officially in the best day of the year”

The four of them, after that, decided to wander a bit in the shop, looking at its content. Apparently, the antique store decided to take the whole haunted scary house theme very seriously because after thirty minutes in, they had already found countless fake skeletons, at least twenty scary dolls and an overall inappropriate number of vampires references. Anyone else would be frightened and running away from there, but the four of them? They, even Ray, though the curly haired man wouldn't admit it, were having the time of their lives.

“Hey” Ray whispered to Gerard at some point, while Frank and Mikey were using two skulls as puppets. “You are okay?”

“What?” Gerard asked, a bit confused by Ray’s concerned look, but also drinking in the way Ray’s eyes was looking right into his.

“You were pretty scared and stressed when this started, are you feeling a bit better?”

“Yeah, this is fun. I still hate Frank for waking me up with an ice bucket though” Ray chuckled at that.

“Anyway, how did they convince you to come?” Gerard stayed in silence at Ray’s question, not knowing how to answer and so Ray took that as a cue to elaborate it “Was it a band thing? Because the vibes here are actually quite good to think of stories for songs“ At that, Frank grinned.

“That is a great idea. Who wants to share horror stories?“ Gerard and Ray, a bit surprised by Frank, agreed and went looking for a comfortable place to sit. Mikey, however, pushed Frank to a corner.

“What are you doing? They were getting along just fine“ He hissed.

“Have you never seen a halloween romantic movie? We need to scare them before they fall in love” Frank hissed back and Mikey looked skeptical “Look trust me, I got a plan. I know, not very elaborated, I will give you that, but it is a plan all the same.” Mikey just looked blankly at him and so, to make his point, Frank gave him a little peck kiss on his lip and followed Ray and Gerard’s trail. After an exasperated sigh, Mikey followed too.

“Okay, so let's start with a ghost story“ Frank started excited, as the four of them were sitting in a circle on the floor, the room only illuminated by a flashlight to, quoting Frank, give the story a better spooky vibe. 

“The story was set on Halloween, because as we all know it, Halloween is the day in which the veil between world is the thinnest of the year and-”

“Is that why when you were born you looked like a little demon?” Mikey joked at Frank’s seriousness. 

“Really, Mikey?” Frank retorted incrediously “You fucking date me”

“And I regret nothing” Frank opened his mouth to retort that but then closed it and sighed, which made the three of them laugh and, after a while, he started to chuckle too.

They were all laughing until they heard a crack close by. 

“Fuck, did you heard that?“ Ray asked, a little frightened by the sound. 

“Guys this is an old store, I'm sure this is just an innocent sound” Mikey assured Ray but the effect was totally lost because Mikey was grinning excitedly, looking around as if waiting for something supernatural to happen.

“Let’s just ignore it“ Gerard suggested, placing a hand over Ray’s, which calmed the curly man a bit.

“Okay, so I was saying” Frank continued, but as they ignored the sound, a door cracked.

“Fuck that is it, we are all out of here” Ray declarated instantely and got up.

“Calm down!” Frank ordered Ray between giggles “My friend that works here said that there is just one haunted doll that sometimes makes random noise, but it is harmless, it just wanders around a bit. They didn’t even tried to get rid of it yet because they pity it too much”

“There is a fucking haunted doll here?” Ray screamed, his voice borderlining on hysterical. As soon as he said that, footsteps were heard, shutting up the four of them. Frank’s flashlight tried to follow the sound and soon, the four of them were facing a ten centimeters Hello Kitty doll, that was now standing in front of them.

“Oh hello” Mikey broke the silence blanky, and the doll looked at him as if it wanted to answer but, apparently, whenever or not you have a mouth in your possessed object matters to the ghosts and so, the doll just made an angry face. In the same minute Frank’s flashlight weakened.

“Fuck, dont be angry, please“ Gerard begged and the doll turned its eyes at him, still angry and apparently on its way to become angrier.

“Wait! You want to talk to us?“ Ray asked the doll and the doll nodeed “Okay, then just uh“ Ray said the first thing on his mind, in an attempt to make the angry doll forget all about Gerard and focus on him only “If you want to talk to us, just dab instead”

“Did you just ask a possessed doll to dab?“ Mikey asked, giggling lighthearted and amused at the whole situation. But then the doll, that was looking confused at Ray, raised an arm and put the other arm in front of its face in the same direction, dabbing. 

“Oh my god the ghost is dabbing“ Ray stated shocked. At that, they all, minus Mikey stayed in silence for a second as shock reigned over them but then, they all started to laugh too.

“This is the best birthday ever,“ Frank said between laughs. After a few more demoniac dabs, the four of them fell on a laughing hard session. That is, until the doll got upset at not receiving attention and destroyed the flashlight, by making it melt from inside.

“Fuck, now we are in the dark, you happy now?“ Frank asked, pissed at the doll, and illuminating the room with only his old phone light. In the bad light, at least, he could see the possessed doll lower its head, as if ashamed to be called out.

“Okay, the doll wants to talk but it can't speak. What do we do?“ Ray asked, logically. At that, Frank grinned.

“Ouija board, bro“

“No! Ouija board no“ Ray retorted. However, Mikey grinned too.

“Ouija board, bro“ Mikey then looked at Gerard expectantly, as if his opinion was going to decide everything.

“Please Gee...“ Ray started stressed and his eyes were beautiful and Gerard just wanted to kiss that frown away. But he also was a halloween nerd so he sighed deeply and said.

“I'm sorry but ouija board, bro“ Ray then just groaned as Frank stood up to search an ouija board and Mikey went to search candles.

“Hey, are you okay?“ Gerard asked, as the two of them were alone with the doll. Ray just chuckled sarcastically “No, I mean it. You have been quite down lately, like that whole being haunted talk-“ Gerard then turned to the doll “No offense“ The doll just dabbed again lightly, making Ray smile.

“That day was okay, I’m on my way to be over it. Just uh, like I have told you, it sucks to be haunted by the realization that you will never be good enough for someone“ Ray revealed, looking meaningful and a bit hopeful at Gerard’s eyes.

“Well“ Gerard started shy “Just so you know, if I had to be haunted by someone, I would rather it be you“ Gerard didn't manage to see Ray blush under the darkness, but he did get the motion of his mouth opening and closing a few times in the dark “Come on, Ray. What do you want to say? Tell me“

“I-“ Ray stammered, but then he heard Frank and Mikey's footsteps and sighed out of relief and closed his mouth.

“Okay, get ready for the ouija board time, bitches” Frank grinned as he got into the room, his face looking a little maniac under Mikey's candle light.

A few minutes laters, they were all ready, sitting in a circle again, this time with an ouija board in their hands and the Hello Kitty Doll sitting in front of it.

“Okay, Mister slash Miss or“ Frank looked around “Guys what is the gender neutral of mister?“

“Ruler of all empires“ Gerard chipped in.

“But that implies monarchy, monarchy isn't cool“ Frank replied and Mikey sighed.

“Oh my God, you nerds, give me this“ He took the board from Frank, adjusting it in front of him. “Okay, creature, thou art-?”

“It just dabbed, I don't think you need to speak shakespearean english to it“

“Creature that arth possessing a Hello Kitty doll“ Mikey spoke again, loudly enough to cover Frank’s voice “What is thor name?“

“Did you just say Thor?“ Ray asked, confused, but then the ouija board started to move. It first went to the letter P, then A, then T, then R, I, C, K.

“You are Patrick?“ Frank asked, without humor in his voice for the first time in the whole night, since seeing the power of the creature actually scared him enough to bring him to a sober state. The Hello Kitty demon nodded with its head.

“Okay Patrick. I assume you use he pronouns?“ Gerard asked and the doll nodded again.

“So uh, what are you doing here?“ Frank asked and Patrick looked at him with an expression that screamed ‘Are you kidding me?’ “I mean, if you are a ghost that means you are stuck to the earth by something, right?“ At that, the Hello Kitty's eyes looked suspiciously close to sad. Patrick moved the Ouija again, S-O-M-E-O-N-E.

“Oh my god, were you murdered and you want revenge?“ Mikey asked, his eyes lit like it was Christmas but Patrick shaked his head.

“Is it because of love?” Frank asked, in a pitiful but relatable tone. Patrick nodded as if he was tired.

“Were you not able to confess your love for them and now you can't leave?“ Ray asked, looking way too sad in Gerard’s opinion. Patrick then just sighed, as if he had already given up on just thinking about his past. Ray smiled sadly at that. “You are really haunted by someone, not even the other way around“

And, just like in the practice day, the sight of Ray's sad eyes was enough for him to get motivated to do absolutely anything to make the taller man feel better. Even if it was getting in the middle of a possessed doll’s personal business.

“What if we tell the person you love them? Is it going to break the ghost situation, will it give you peace?“ Gerard asked and Patrick, still looking down, shrugged as if he didn’t know and it didn't matter. “No, stop this shit.” Gerard ordered the doll “If there is a single chance of them loving you back. Or even you just getting closure, why wouldn't you take this? Come on!“

“The uncertainty is scary, Gee“ Ray told him, in a soulful tone that said that he was talking about himself rather than about Patrick’s case, however, the doll nodeed too.

“Ray, wasn't you the one that said that we need to face the truth to finally start living?” Gerard asked, indiginated “Why would it be different here? Why do you chase for a melancholic sadness instead of just coming clear about your feelings? Why don’t you just say three simple words instead of killing yourself with doubt? Why would you rather be a ghost than a living human being?” Gerard asked, making Ray's eyes go wide. As Gerard realized the words he said, his own eyes also went wide, realizing that he was doing the same thing too about his own feelings.

“Oh my god all of you are stupid” Mikey muttereted as the silence reigned. Gerard and Ray were looking intensely at each other, as if gathering the courage to say something. Frank thought of letting things happen in that way but then again, that would be a bad story to tell your kids so, in a second thought, he decided to interfere.

“Gerard is right! Patrick, tell us about your mysterious significant other and we will help you to find them!“ At that Mikey looked like he wanted to strangle him with his eyes but Frank just grinned him off. “Patrick, my ghost, tell us everything.”

And so, after a torturous half an hour of understand the ouija board letters and trying to form words out of it, they knew that basics of Patrick's story: He was roommate with his best friends and he was in love with one called Joe and once, after a fight that Gerard wasn't sure if he understood fully but he got enough to know that it involved someone peeing on someone else's door and ended up with Patrick, as a joke, giving Joe a Hello Kitty Doll as a gift. And when Patrick died, Joe gave it away because it made him sad, and the doll eventually made it to end up in an antique store. By the group’s estimation asking about international events, Patrick was a recent death, around a year or two ago.

“How do you want us to declare your love?“ Gerard asked and Patrick just sighed in frustration and signed on the ouija board .

“I don't know, normally i would do it by music“ Patrick then looked more sad “I don't know how else to show emotions, apparently.“

“We are in a band, maybe we can play something to him“ Ray started happily but then grimaced “I don't think we have yet a happy song about love though… But we have one about the Our Lady of Sorrows? Is he catholic?“ At that Patrick, in a quite expressive way for a doll that didn't even have a mouth, looked like he was about to strangle them all in a second.

In that moment, a realisation struck Gerard like a lightning bolt: Patrick, a ghost stuck in a freaking Hello Kitty doll without being able to speak, was closer to confess his love than Gerard, and Gerard was less than a foot away from the object of his affection. Love shouldn't be that hard and, he realized, it really wasn't, because he was already loving Ray. 

And it came as easy as breathing, so easy that all the extravagant idea of creating an elaborated song to declare his love sounded silly because Ray, as Gerard knew, would just rather if Gerard just spoke with him and were kind to the others, because that was how simple and kind Ray was, going as far as relating and trying to help a damn ghosted doll after being dragged at midnight by his friends to a sketchy and scare place. So, breathing deeply, Gerard decided that if he was going to try to make Ray happy, it should be in a way that he was sure that Ray would be proud

“We haven’t yet, but I do have one song” Gerard looked into Patrick on his eyes, avoiding Ray’s look at him “If you want, you can take it”

After another forty minutes of Patrick fixing stuff alone with Gerard, because even though Patrick was a soundless doll, he was still very opinionated about music, they were on their way to the address Patrick gave him, which was surprisingly close. The odds of Joe not living there any longer were high but when Gerard brought that concern to Patrick, the doll just laughed fondly and signed that he didn’t picture his friends moving out of their little fortress.  
For the whole car trip, Frank asked for Patrick to do the WAP dance as a birthday gift, to which Patrick answered by psychally throwing something in Frank’s face, which made Mikey so happy that Gerard swear he saw tears at some point.

When the car stopped, they were facing a little apartament with just two stories. 

“Okay,” Ray started before any of them could get out of the car. “We need a plan, how do we convince Joe to see us?”

“We could say we are tv cable guys and that-” Frank started.

“Frank, it is almost two am” Ray interrupted, tired.

“We could say that we have Patrick” Mikey suggested and Ray just looked at him horrorized.

“How saying that we have their dead old friend with us could possible work?” 

At that, Patrick just started to dab non stop “Guys” Gerard chipped in “I think Patrick wants to say something” Mikey, grinning, took the ouija board out of its bag and placed it in his lap. Not even five seconds late, Patrick made it move, signing:

“We used to have a shitty security system, you guys can break in by the fire escape since the window on that side doesn't really lock”

“This is a bad idea for so many reasons” Ray tried to be logical, but Frank was already grinning with the idea of trespassing a house in an Halloween dawn. Patrick just rolled his eyes and signed again.

“The worse it can happen is Andy finding you guys instead of Joe. But if you dont piss him off you guys are fine, he hates the cops so I doubt he would call them if the situation doensn’t envolve a murder”

“Look at this guy” Ray pointed to Frank “do you really think he can spend five minutes without pissing strangers off?” At that Frank groaned grumpily, to which Ray sighed “I’m sorry Frank but we all know it is truth”

“And I love you for that” Mikey chipped in, making Frank smile goofy and give up on retorting.

“I think breaking the law is the best option we have” Gerard exclaimed and Ray just sighed, already knowing that this was a lost battle since he didn’t even have Patrick or Gerard’s support.

As they silently climbed the fire escape, Frank holding the guitar case, Mikey holding the ouija board, Ray holding the Hello Kitty doll as if it was a baby, which made Patrick pissed off, apparently, and Gerard holding the car keys with the sharpened part out (as if it was enough to defence them if someone decided to attack the people trespassing a house in 2am of a halloween morning) Gerard couldn't help but think that if he had decided to stay on comics industry, he would never end up in a situation like this and so, he was oddly happy that things turned out the way it did.

“Gerard, stop smiling like a dumbass, if someone finds us out and you are smiling like that they will think you are like a maniac or something” Frank told him “Okay” Frank continued with a sigh before Gerard could retort “We are in their flat level, aren’t we?” He turned to Patrick who just nodded with his head, a bit of uncertainty on it nod though “Okay that is it, we are trespassing in the middle of a night slash start of a morning with a haunted doll into a stranger house that might end up not being the right’s stranger house and it’s Halloween” Frank just started to giggle then, full smile “This is the best birthday ever” He then kneeled down in front of the window, trying to open it.

As Gerard was observing it, Mikey punched his arms and nodded directly to Ray, who had a doubtful look on Frank’s direction. Gerard tried to ignore Mikey but Mikey punched him again, this time harder, and mouthed ‘Go talk to him’ and so he went to Ray’ side, the guitarist was on the other side of the fire escape, as if Ray wanted to put himself the maximum distance against the whole illegal business that the band and the doll were doing. 

“Hi Ray, how are you doing?” Ray looked at him like he was stupid.

“We are about to do a trespassing that could end up on us getting arrested just so we maybe can help a haunted doll to confess his feelings” Ray retorted, looking stressed.

“But if you could, would you choose to do this any differently? Would you rather just ignore little Patrick and his little sadness?” Patrick dabed angrily then, as if to complain about them calling him little but both Ray and Gerard ignored him, looking at each other's eyes intensely instead.

“No, I don’t regret it at all” Ray revealed, as if surprised with himself.

“Don’t be surprise, you are the best person I know, you always look up to the others and help them no matter the risk, you are fantastic, Ray Toro” Gerard said fast, not letting his mind and self doubt getting on the way to make Ray feel better

“Well” Ray started after a second of worried silence, his tone a bit unsure “You are willingly here too, so I guess you are fantastic too”

“About that” Gerard started, already in a worried and regretful tone “I need to confess something”

“Hey, come on, you can always talk to me” Ray said lightly, elbowing him when he saw how worried Gerard was.

“Frank just tried to convince us all to come here tonight to help me” Gerard started shyly, not knowing how much he should follow the truth to make Ray happy.

“How so?” At Ray’s confused look, Gerard decided, in that second, that screw his doubt, that beautiful man decided to know everything good ever thought about him.

“The song that we are playing now, I kinda wrote it for you at first” At that, Ray looked shocked so, nervous, Gerard started to ramble “I mean, I know this is silly and I know for a fact that helping someone out would cheer you up more than a stupid morbid song, but I got the idea when you were sad at the writing session we had and I don’t know, it sounded a good idea at the time and it is a silly song-”

“Gerard” Ray stopped him then, smiling shyly “I’m sure the song is great and I appreciate all those gestures very much” and then Ray looked down, a blush visible even under the moonlight “I don’t think there is a thing you can do that wouldn’t be appreciated”

“I-I” Gerard stamereted “You mean it?”

“Yes” Ray answered, chuckling lightly “I love everything you do”

“Well” Gerard breathed deeply then, it was now or never , he thought “I love you” Gerard dared to look into Ray’s eyes just to find shock there and that shock came like a wave, that let his thoughts of how he saw himself as a just a confused baggy haired boy that would never be enough for someone like Ray drown him. So, afraid of looking into Ray’s eyes and finding confirmation that the deep sea of his fears thought, he turned into Frank’s direction “Are we ready for breaking in?” 

“Sure?” Frank asked, the window already open, in a tone that said ‘Dude you are crazy? Go finish your romantic moment!’

“Great, let’s go” Before anyone could argue, Gerard climbed inside the window. The room inside was a dark and dusty one and in the moonlight, he could see a ton of vinyls and rock posters. 

“This looks like no one has been here for months, maybe even years” Frank exclaimed quietly to no one when he followed Gerard. When Ray jumped in with the doll, they could see the way that Patrick’s eyes saddened with longing as he looked over the room.

“Was this your room?” Mikey asked and Patrick nodeed “Well, at least then we know the rest of your friend must still live here” They all stayed in silence then, as if the acknowledgement that Patrick really was a human being once that died was finally sinking in.

“So how are we going to talk to Joe?” Surprisingly Ray was the first one to speak again “I mean, that is all we can do to help, isn’t it? So let’s get moving!”

“Okay” Frank agreed, regaining his habitual grinning a bit “I think we should just go to Joe’s room and start to play”

“Four strangers and a haunted doll going into someone else’s room to play him a song at two am? I don't think that is a good idea, dude” Ray answered, his voice borderline desperate.

“What if we just go to the living room and start to play there? And when he realize the sound he will follow it and he will be stopped on his tracks as he catches Gerard’s beautiful voice and will realize Patrick’s input in the song”

“Or he will get scared and will try to fight us with a baseball bat” Ray then looked at Patrick “Is it likely that there is a baseball bat somewhere here?” Patrick nodded a bit pitiful and Ray just sighed “Great”

“Fuck this, guys we need to go big or go home-” Frank started

“No, we need to be careful and not give anyone a heart attack” Gerard retorted, a bit louder than Frank’s.

“No, we need to just fucking face our feelings and stop avoiding confrotation” Frank answered, louder than Gerard.

“Oh fuck you” Gerard replied, almost screaming at this point. Before he could continue, though, they all heard footstep and frozen.

“Hello?Is there someone there?” A voice asked and, by the way that Patrick’s eyes lightened up, Gerard supposed this was Joe.

“Ok what now?” Mikey whispered and they all just shrugged.

“Hey, we are here” Frank answered loudly, and they all looked at him as if he was crazy, even Patrick.

“What? He was going to find us out one way or another, better it be in a neighbourly sympathetic way than in a ‘Fancy to see you in your room sleeping all alone’ kind of way”

However, who answered the door wasn’t sympathetic at all. There were three person, in the front, a tattooed bulky one with a t-shirt that said “All cops are pigs”, which they suppose it was Andy by Patrick’s earlier attempt at pep talk, a small one that were holding a baseball bat in a way that implied that they were used to it and knew how to fight, and the last one, this one with mid length curly and voluminous hair, with a star wars t shirt, a boxer short that had drawing of little guitar and a Lillo & Stitch’s slippers. They all looked very angry and confused.

“Hi! What a lovely night, am I right?” Ray asked just to fill the silence.

“I don’t know, I think it’s a bit too chilly if you ask me” The Guitar Boxer Short person answered, making the bulky one rolls their eyes and elbow them. Gerard realized that this person had the voice that made Patrick’s Hello Kitty eyes go wild, so he supposed it was Joe.

“The fuck you guys want? We are poor” The shorter one asked, sounding more brave than someone that small had any right to.

“I guess we can treat you all with a good time but to be honest I’m not sure if it’s worth that much. You know, money can’t buy happiness and that. It ain’t worth a dime” The Guitar Boxer Short chipped in and, at that, the stronger one just rolled their eyes and looked tired at them.

“Joe, we don’t make jokes with intruders, do you want to get murdered?” At that Joe just laughed

“Andy look at them, they are as tiny as you and Pete, I doubt they can hurt someone”

“Okay now that is plain rude” Frank chipped in.

“For your information, so is to break into someone else’s house” The last one, Pete, Gerard assumed, answered.

“But we have a reason though!” Mikey added in his most lighthearted and sympathetic way, which, considerently Mikey, wasn’t a lot different from his blank voice. 

“Yeah? Please enlighten us” Andy asked sarcastically, crossing his arms. His expression screamed ‘Do not try to fuck with me or I’m going to beat the hell out of you all’ which made all of them pause for a bit.

“Well, we are here for Joe” Mikey decided to start with, to which Joe just laughed simply, as if it all was just a funny common ending for a 2AM chit-chat. 

“It’s about Patrick” Ray added and, in the same second, all the laugh and humour left Joe’s voice, letting him the most sober he had been so far into the night.

“Is this a prank? Because this isn’t funny at all” Joe’s voice, in a blink of a second, turned from chill and freely to now be as violent and fearful as Andy’s. 

“No! I swear, it is complicated but it isn’t a joke” Gerard replied “Please just let us explain” At that, the trio stayed in silence for a while, Andy and Pete looking at Joe as if he would the final saying on any issues that had Patrick’s name on it.

“Okay, you have two minutes but let’s go to the living room” Joe decided at last and, without checking up on them, left the room. So, in the most awkward silence Gerard ever experimented, everybody followed him and the four intruders sat down on the tiny sofa as Joe turned on the lights and Pete, reluctantly, offered them all something to drink. 

“This is so weird, please let’s end it up already” Pete practically begged as he sat down on the floor, facing the four of them. Andy and Joe nodded with their heads and went to stand next to Pete, without sitting down though.

“You, you have been the quietest, please explain it all, from the very beginning” Joe asked Mikey, who just grinned.

“Okay, you see this stupid jackass?” He pointed to Gerard “He may or not be in love with this other jackass” He pointed to Ray then “Who is also in love with jackass number 1, and because of that, jackass number 2, who we will call hypothetically Jet Star”

“Wait why hypothetically?” Andy asked, confused

“I don’t want you guys to go after us knowing our real names” At that Andy opened his mouth to retorted but just shrugged and let it slide “Okay, because of his crush on jackass number 1, Mr. Party Poison, Mr. Jet Star is sad, and so Party Poison decides to write a song about haunted houses -"

"Wait, haunted houses? Why?" Pete asked, genuinely absorbed in the story

"Man I don't know, go figures what the hell passes on Party Poison’s head." Mikey commented without a second of hesitation and then, as if he realized the words he said, he frowned at himself "Sorry, this was my 'I need to annoy my older brother' self speaking, I actually know and it makes sense. You see, Jet Star was all dramatic and longing for Party Poison but he thought that he wasn't enough for Party-" At that, Gerard, surprised, glanced at Ray, who was blushing deeply and looking as if he would rather having the whole building crashing on him then having this talk.

"Hypothetically speaking, that is the stupidest thing I have ever heard" Gerard says quietly to Ray, who then smiles shyly.

"Well, Party says that now" Mikey who, along with everybody, was smiling a bit at the little interaction, continued speaking "But at the time, Party was idiot and when JetStar suggested to write a song about yearning for someone in a ghost way-"

"Fuck, like haunted Taylor Swift?" Pete asked and Mikey nodded.

"Yeah, like a haunted Taylor Swift, Party secretly, with the help of me, Kobra Kid, and Fun Ghoul" He pointed to Frank "wrote the song. And then the best duo, again me and Fr-Fun Ghoul we decided that a song and the whole love story it could develop had to be told with style, so we decided that Party should perform it at a haunted house. But well, there isn't any truly haunted house here, so romance was dead “At that, both Pete and Joe made a sad sound "But! As if chosen by God herself, a random friend of Fun told him that in the antique store that they worked at there was a haunted doll, so we decided to make the movie love story develop itself there on Halloween’s first hours." Mikey paused a bit to get his breath there "And we went there and the jackasses weren't any time soon to talk about their feelings because they are stupid but then taran!" He punched Frank on his right for dramatic purpose "We met a haunted doll!"

"A Haunted doll? For real?" Andy asked, now eyeing the hello kitty doll suspiciously. As if to make a point, Patrick dabbed for the first time in ever since they were in Patrick’s room, scaring the three flatmates, making even Andy lose his posture and jump from fear very high, which actually made Gerard giggle.

"Yeah, we talked with him with the Ouija board and in the end, we found out that he is actually Patrick" At that, all the curiosity and little humor the three were having disappeared, all of their faces showing mourning.  
Silence reigned again, only to be killed a few minutes later by Pete, who sighed deeply and took the doll from Ray's hand, holding it, as if he was hugging it. Patrick, sighing fondly, leaned on the hug.

"Hey buddy, I love you and you will always be my twin flame, but what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be resting?" Pete asked, his tone trying to be light and happy but his watering eyes didn’t help.

"Did you already pissed off everybody in the skies?" Andy asked jokingly, a tear falling down his face even though he was smiling .

"What did you do to annoy them? Did you outsing Elton John?" Pete joked, pure relief and sadness in his voice. 

"Wait, isn't Elton John, like alive?" Frank whispered and, at the same second, both Gerard and Mikey slapped him in the head.

"Why are you stuck in the doll you gave me?" Joe asked for the first time, pure hope and fear mixed on his voice, as he sniffed his nose, as if trying to stop tears from crying. All in all, he looked like a mess. "Fuck, did I got you stuck there? Patrick I'm so sorry, I swear I tried my best to not think of you so you could have a nice trip, I'm so sorry" At that, he just gave up and accepted the tears as they came, and they came strong. After a few seconds, Patrick managed to let go of Pete's grip and went to Joe's side, and put his Hello Kitty doll's hand on Joe's arms, as if he was afraid of how much he could touch.

"Joe" Gerard started very slowly and careful "We think that what may be causing the prison of Patrick in this world is the fact that he never confessed his feeling" At that Joe looked confused so Gerard paused a little bit before continuing "His feeling for you"

At that, the whole room went quiet, Frank and Ray trying to disguise their exticement, Mikey looking like he was watching the last chapters of a novel opera, Gerard careful, Andy giving Patrick a sympathetic smile, Pete quietly muttering 'Fuck yeah, I knew it', Patrick now and then giving a dab to prove he was there and Joe looked at Patrick shocked, as if he genuinely couldn't believe in what he heard.

"Y-Y-You were in love with me?" Joe stammered "No dude, I was in love with you, I was giving you signs all the time, how could you not realise that if you were in love with me too?" Patrick looked like he wanted to strangle himself and hug Joe at the same time so Gerard decided to take the wheels.

"He said that he wasn't good with feelings, only with music" Gerard said and Joe, laughing a bit incredulously as tears continued to flow, just hugged Patrick.

"You are so silly, my tiny little Bowie" For a few more minutes, they just hugged and everybody else smiled, some smiles full of sorrow and others more happy, but all in all, they all were smiling. But then, Patrick pushed Joe away and dabbed desperately.

"What? Do you need to talk?" Mikey asked and, as Patrick nodded desperate, he quickly put down the Ouija Board on the floor. 

Without hesitation, Patrick signed  
"They are calling for me, I can't stay here too long" At that, Joe looked wild and betrayed.

"Please, can't you stay? I would rather have you in a Hello Kitty form than not have you at all. It's horrible to not be with you, please"

At that, Patrick just shaked his head "There is just one life to live, I lived mine, I can't take yours too"

Joe just chuckled sadly "No matter if you are here or not, you will still take my life away. It’s just like my breath, you took it all in the first time you smiled at me"

Patrick then just looked very meaningful I'm Joe's eyes and, without taking his eyes out of Joe, he signed "Please, just play him the song" 

And so, Frank got his guitar ready and Gerard started to sing.

"Baby, you're a haunted house  
Better find another superstition  
We're gonna stay in love somehow  
'Cause, baby, you're a haunted house now" 

At that, Joe started to laugh sarcastically and Patrick, trying to give him some comfort or at least a joke, just started to attempt to dance, doing bad music moves and dabs.

"And your heart will stay forever  
When your last remains are few  
In the dark, we dance together  
And I'd like to be waiting with you"

Patrick paused his dance moves to point at Joe, as if he was calling him to dance and so, Joe started to move his arms, laughing lightly a bit as he cried. Patrick then pointed to all of them and motioned them to stand up and dance, which they all did, with Mikey and Frank singing along the most happily they could.

"Oh, Baby, you're a haunted house  
Better find another superstition  
We're gonna stay in love somehow  
'Cause, baby, you're a haunted house now" 

At that, however, Patrick started to less his moves, and signed in the ouija  
"I don't think I can't hold on very long. But please, don't ever stop dancing if I am gone"

"Fuck! Patrick please don't!" Joe begged, as the doll slowly stopped dancing around and started to become an inmate. For a second, they were all in silence, only the guitar playing softly and the sound of Joe’s worsening hiccup from his cries.

"The song didn't ended yet, this is his gift from you" Ray said softly against the silence, putting a hand on Joe's shoulder "It's better to appreciate the moments as they are becoming memories then to mourn then for the rest of your live" Andy, with his red nose, looked like he wanted to take Ray off Joe, as the blue eyed man’s cry worsened but soon enough, Joe, still crying hard and sniffing his nose, sighed deeply and took the doll on his hand and started to move with it, as if it was a little waltz.

"Well” Joe started, his voice trying to be happy but still hoarse “If you are still a bit here, watching this as your spirit goes, I would like you to go with a last dance waltz, as a true king deserves"

He then turned to Gerard and nodded his head to him, giving him permission to continue to sing. 

"And the nights, they last forever  
And days are always making you blue  
In the dark, we laugh together  
'Cause the misery's funny to you" 

Joe just laughed lividly then, as if that was a secret joke he had with Patrick.

"Oh, Baby, you're a haunted house  
Better find another superstition  
We're gonna stay in love somehow  
'Cause, baby, you're a haunted house now"

"I'll be the only one who likes the things you do  
I'll be the ghost inside your head when we are through  
Sometimes you scare me, but I come around to you  
I'll say hello, hello, (hello)  
And I'll find a way to scare you too" 

On that part, thinking about Patrick, Gerard realized that there were tears in his own eyes too. He looked around and saw that everybody was crying too, a sowful look on everybody’s faces even when they tried to give their best smiles to the ode. Then, Gerard elbowed Ray and nodded to Joe and, as if they had a telepath bond, Ray nodded an agreement. If everybody was already crying too, they should at least share their unhappiness and make something beautiful out of their ugliness.

"I think this song is more of a group dance than a waltz, don't you think" Ray said to no one in special, forcing his voice to be loud and happy as he joined hands with the people on his side, Pete and Mikey, and those people joined hands too, until everybody was dancing together in a circle around Frank and Gerard.

"Baby, you're a haunted house  
Better find another superstition  
We're gonna stay in love somehow  
'Cause, baby, you're a haunted house now"

"Okay, you all know the chorus so I want you to sing! Until your lungs give out!" Pete ordered them all in an inside joke tone, making both Andy and Joe laugh. In that way, in a mixture of laugh and tears and the memory of a dabbing doll, they sang the chorus once again

"Oh, baby, you're a haunted house  
Better find another superstition  
You better go and take a bow  
'Cause, baby, you're a haunted house  
Baby, you're a haunted house  
Baby, you're a haunted house, now"

When the song ended, they all started to cheer and hug each other. Or that is, until a neighbor very loudly ordered them to shut up.

“Guys” Joe called them as they were getting ready to leave, this time by the front door of course, “I for real appreciate this a lot, thank you for this”

“Hey, no problem man” Frank said, giving him a small punch on his shoulder “This is the best birthday ever anyway” Joe just laughed then, his nose still red.

“Also, I hope everything works out between you two, Jet Star and Party Poison, you guys would make an amazing couple!”

At that, Gerard laughed and blushed deeply, just like Ray.

“You know what, Mr. Kobra Kid?” Frank asked loudly “I think they are calling our names downstair, we will give you guys a minute”

“You know, you really aren’t subtle” Gerard deadpanned and Frank just giggled.

“That is true but at least I’m fun, I’m a Fun Ghoul” 

“You are actually kill joy, you do know that, right?” Ray added, laughing a bit. Frank just rolled his eyes and, with his hand cloped to Mikey’s, he left the two of them alone in the front door of Joe’s.

“Who would guess” Ray said laughing when it all became silence “That you really would make even a haunted house be such a so cooler and liveful thing after all?”

“Well” Gerard chuckled a bit “I guess that everything that you associate with the person that you love can become a better thing”

“I hope then that the world becomes a better place then” Ray told him, looking at his eyes “Because I associate it all with you”

“Oh” 

“Gerard” Ray started shyly, putting a hand on the smaller chin “I’m afraid to say that you are my whole world”

“Well” Gerard smiled “I guess you can say that you are a haunted house now then” 

“Oh yeah, you are the ghost in my head” Ray agreed, faking a serious tone just to then lose it and giggle hard “Or actually, would you be the ghost in my doll, like Patrick?

“Baby you are a haunted doll then” Gerard joked and, cutting to the chase, kissed him. It was a simple kiss at first, just a peak of soft lips, but it quickly became something else, with Gerard putting his head against Ray’s hair. When they were breathless, Ray broke the kiss and, simply, kissed Gerard’s cheek.

“I’m haunted but I never felt more alive before” Ray said, amased. Gerard just laughed and put his head against Ray’s chest, feeling the vibration of Ray’s laugh there. 

There, in the dawn of Halloween, after crying and singing to a dabbing haunted doll, he couldn’t help but feel that it was the best day ever, so fantastic that not even a thousand songs would be enough to describe.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, sometimes you really just feel alone and haunted, but that doesn’t need to be a bad thing at all. Just hold onto the reality and celebrate the time you still have with your loved ones and, who knows? Maybe your pain, stress and sadness can become a beautiful song and the sad death can become an ode to life. It will be alright eventually, my dear. (just remember the laugther xp)


End file.
